WSBT-TV report: Vacant homes burn in morning fire

April 19, 2007|WSBT-TV Report

SOUTH BEND - One abandoned home is destroyed and another one damaged after a morning fire. Firefighters were called to the 1600 block of Florence Ave. on the southwest side of South Bend just before 6 a.m. today. Right now investigators are saying it's probably arson. Normally at a fire scene like this, investigators would still be poking around, sometimes even with arson dogs. But right now, these homes are just as empty as they were before the fire started.

Jeanine Rozum, who lives across the street, saw the fire early this morning.

Â?I woke up and saw the window over there just bursting with flames,Â? Rozum said.

Phyllis Glassburn, another neighbor, witnessed the fire.

Â?Lots of flames, yeah, lots of flames,Â? she said.

Investigators say the fire started in one home and was so intense it spread to a vacant home next door.

Home Buyers, Inc., owns one of the houses. One worker says the company just spent about $10,000 remodeling it.